The Scioto County Sheriff’s Office will add road deputies for the first time in 40 years thanks to an agreement between the agency and the Fraternal Order of Police. Sheriff David Thoroughman briefed Scioto County Commissioners about the deal at Tuesday’s meeting.
Praising the FOP, the sheriff said, “They were very helpful in allowing us to go after different means of adding personnel to sheriff’s office.” The organization agreed to a reduced pay increase in order for the money to go towards adding additional road deputies.
Incredibly, this is the first time in 40 years the office will increase the number of road deputies in the county. “It is very much needed. Very much overdue. I’d like to thank the FOP and also the county commissioners for working with us on this,” Thoroughman said.
FOP Steps Up To Help Citizens
Commissioner Bryan Davis said, “It’s really great. I gotta tell you, this may be the first time that I can recall having this level of cooperation in trying to figure out how to pay for it. It’s always a tough thing. But to have the FOP step up and show teamwork is just huge.”
Davis said he was impressed with the level of cooperation between the FOP and the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office. “This is really going to help make our county safer. Fatigue and things like that kick in after a while.”
While the population of Portsmouth has declined in the last 40 years, the population in townships and the overall county has increased. Sheriff Thoroughman said, “When you think about it, 40 years. The number of county residents has increased. The number of businesses has increased, yet our road patrol has not increased to keep up with that.” He praised the FOP for its attitude. “It was great to work with FOP. It was not gimmie, gimmie, gimmie. They really care about citizens.”
Breath of Fresh Air
Commissioner Scottie Powell said, ” It’s a breath of fresh air when somebody comes to a meeting and instead of saying hey we need something says ultimately, here’s a solution. I’ve kind of already figured it out with the team. We appreciate that level of thought going into a problem.”
Davis told the sheriff he’d heard good things about morale at the agency. “I ran into one of your coworkers last night and they were very complimentary of your leadership. Very complimentary of the environment in the sheriff’s office. And very excited about the future. I left there feeling really good. The proof’s in the pudding.”
Davis went on to praise local law enforcement for several recent high-profile busts and complimented the new sheriff on the level of cooperation with Portsmouth Police, New Boston Police, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
In the past, the relationship between the commissioners and former Sheriff Marty Donini was sometimes tense. The most high-profile conflict being the handling of out-of-service SCSO vehicles.
